Two new species, new synonymies, and new records of Plant bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) from Northwestern China
Author
Konstantinov, Fedor V.
Author
Luo, Zhaohui
Author
Vinokurov, Nikolay N.
text
Zootaxa
2013
3666
2
203
220
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3666.2.6
f61231e6-699d-4c86-a325-75e9dc67e549
1175-5326
217349
86667FF3-8F7C-4DED-9F65-3690801705E8
Chlamydatus
Curtis, 1833
Li & Liu (2006) provided the first detailed treatment of the genus from
China
and described two new species, namely
C. laminatus
and
C. sichuanensis
,
both known from a series sampled at the same collection event from Xiaojin County in Sichuan Province. According to the original description,
C. laminatus
differs from
C. pullus
(Reuter, 1870)
in having the lobelike dorsal projection of the phallotheca and pale femora. Although we have not been able to study the
holotype
of
C. laminatus
, the excellent illustrations provided by Li & Liu (2006) unequivocally reveal its conspecificity with
C. eurotiae
Kerzhner, 1962
. The authors were apparently unaware of the paper by Kerzhner (1962) with the description of
C. eurotiae
and have not mentioned this species in the respective diagnoses.
Chlamydatus eurotiae
is well distinguished from congeners in having the phallotheca of the same peculiar shape as depicted in original description of
C. laminatus
. No distinctions were found in the vesica structure, parameres, color pattern, sizes, and body proportions. The former species is widely distributed in Central Asia, known from
Mongolia
and has been sampled by one of the authors in Northwestern
China
(see below).
The second species described by Li & Liu (2006), viz.
C. sichuanensis
is indistinguishable from
C. pullus
(Reuter, 1870)
in the structure of the male genitalia and differs from the latter species in having yellowish ground color of the fore and middle femur.
Chlamydatus pullus
is one of the most widespread Holarctic phyline species and examination of a vast material from the collection of Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, revealed a wide variability in the coloration of legs and body size. The ground color of all femora varies from uniformly dark to dirty yellow, with a few dark spots and darkened bases even within a series collected at one time. The same is true for the above-mentioned
C. eurotriae
and
C. pulicarius
(Fallén, 1807)
in the Palearctic fauna, and Schuh and Schwartz (2005) revealed a similar pattern of variability in North American
C. pullus
and
C. pulicarius
(see Plate 3 and relevant discussion in Schuh & Schwartz 2005). We have examined a previously nondissected male
paratype
of
C. sichuanensis
and found that the specimen clearly belongs to
C. laminatus
and was erroneously determined by Li and Liu because of its pale colored femora. Evidently it is impossible to separate any isolated group on the grounds of femora coloration and dissection of the male genitalia is essential for correct determination of a species. On the ground of the foregoing discussion we propose the following synonymies:
Chlamydatus laminatus
Li & Liu, 2006 =
Chlamydatus eurotiae
Kerzhner, 1962
,
new synonymy
and
Chlamydatus sichuanensis
Li & Liu, 2006 =
Chlamydatus pullus
(Reuter, 1870
)
,
new synonymy
.